When and where is EuroSTAR this year?
EuroSTAR 2011 is being held in Manchester Central, which is right in the heart of Manchester city. It will run from Monday 21st – Thursday 24th November.
At a high level, what can we expect to see this year at EuroSTAR?
As the conference theme (In Pursuit of Quality) suggests, we have a programme full of high quality content. There will be 6 world-class keynotes – given by Dr. Richard Sykes, Gojko Adzic, James Whittaker, Daryl Elfield, Bj Rollison and Isabel Evans – 6 full day tutorials, 6 half day tutorials, 4 mini-track sessions, 2 workshops and 38 track sessions on subjects such as Agile, Model Based Testing, Lean, Risk, Automation, Test Process Improvement & Exploratory. It’s set to be an inspirational, educational and fun conference with something for everyone!
Any tasty teasers about forthcoming competitions or interactive activities leading up to the event?
At EuroSTAR we enjoy looking for innovative and exciting ways to interact with the testing community – we launch fun campaigns and competitions regularly! A tasty teaser is that in September we have something very special coming up, it will be a big event and it will be taking place completely online! TeamSTAR is running now and gives people the chance to win 4 places to EuroSTAR. Plus we will be running more competitions in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled for details on our website!
When did preparations for this year’s EuroSTAR start?
We started planning EuroSTAR 2011 straight after 2010 was finished! There is obviously some preparation before this, in terms of selecting the host country and venue for the next conference, but pretty much as soon as one conference ends we are totally geared up to making the following year even better!
What are some of the major challenges facing you when organising such a significant event?
The bad weather throws us a curveball now and then…with threats of us not even making it to the venue last year for example! And although they aren’t really ‘major challenges’, we do have to ensure we keep the event fresh and interesting for the testing audience. Plus, it’s important we keep up-to-date and bring new ideas to the EuroSTAR community throughout the year. We always plan well ahead and we have a dedicated team in the office that work hard but also enjoy organising EuroSTAR – so this serves to ensure we don’t come across any major challenges…yet anyway!
How many people are involved in bringing it all together?
There are six of us that work year-round on EuroSTAR. Nicola McCombie who is the Conference Manager, Kevin Byrne who manages our sponsors and exhibitors, Miriam O’Brien who implements the online initiatives and communications, Siobhan Hunt who manages all the delegate bookings, Joan Daly who is our Accountant and me, Emer O’Connor, I’m the Marketing Manager and do fun things like interviews for The Testing Planet. Plus, we have a new Programme Chair each year who, along with his or her selected committee, put the actual Programme together.
Why do you think events like EuroSTAR are so important to the testing community?
EuroSTAR is so important to the testing community, because it provides invaluable training and development and endless networking opportunities with testers from across the globe. There is a vigorous speaker submission and selection process in place to ensure a highly educational and thought provoking programme with industry leading speakers from across the globe.
Attendees can benefit from the opportunity to challenge and question these speakers, and the many testing leaders in attendance. EuroSTAR is also world renowned for being a fun conference that provides excellent opportunities for meeting old and new acquaintances who share similar interests – many a firm friendship has been formed at EuroSTAR.
We pride ourselves on other conference extras such the EuroSTAR Expo, which is the biggest testing tools & services expo in Europe and provides delegates with an opportunity to investigate the latest test tools & services. Also, the Test Lab, which had its first ever outing at EuroSTAR, provides the opportunity for attendees to test the software and put all the theory into practice!
Who should attend EuroSTAR?
Anybody interested in software testing who is looking to learn and develop their skills, gain from the experience of the expert speakers and meet new people from all areas of the testing industry. People who attend become part of the EuroSTAR Community and benefit from a strong network of testing acquaintances, and from the knowledge and experience that is shared throughout this community.
What were some of the highlights of last year’s EuroSTAR?
Well we see every conference as the highlight of year, but to pick a few of the highlights of EuroSTAR 2010 in Copenhagen:
- The Test Lab, a huge success with delegates who managed to find 100 bugs over the course of the week.
- The strength of the technical programme which gave delegates plenty to explore, discover, investigate and put into practice when they got back to their office desks.
- The atmosphere and camaraderie at the conference thanks to the fantastic EuroSTAR testing community.
- The snow! Our Programme Chair, Geoff Thompson has promised on record that this ‘highlight’ (ahem!) is guaranteed not to occur in Manchester!
How many people can we expect at this year’s EuroSTAR?
EuroSTAR 2010 had over 900 in attendance so this year in Manchester, the first time in the UK since 2006, we look forward to welcoming 900+ to the event.
Where do people need to go to find out more?
To find out more people can go to our website, www.eurostarconferences.com, where they will find all the latest EuroSTAR news, and of course all the programme, speaker and conference booking details. Also, through our website, people can join the EuroSTAR Community where they can avail of all the community benefits, free testing eBooks, webinars, presentations, articles and videos. They can also check out our competitions and interact with the testing community through our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blog. We’ll see you online, and hopefully in Manchester!
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